Sana Sana

I can still feel the slam of the pavement the day I fell off my hot wheel . "Sana Sana colita de rana, si no sanas hoy sanaras manana," like a phantom my abuelita was suddenly there smoothing my hair and rocking me with her words, chanting them over and over as though she were casting off a bad spell. I didn't know at the time what the words meant exactly just that they lulled me, that they had the power to stop my sobbing and hold my breath. I heard the news last night about the tragedy at Virginia Tech just as I was putting the G down to sleep, just as I was crawling into his bed ready to sing the last song and so I sang him this one instead, "Sana Sana colita de rana, si no sanas hoy sanaras manana." I sang it over and over again casting it into the goodnight air hoping my abuelita's words would somehow find themselves inside the ears of those who need its healing powers most. "Heal, heal, the tail of the little frog and if you do not heal today, you will heal tomorrow."